Archive for April, 2019

I have been home from Tanzania for almost two months and I am finally now circling back to my blog. I have been asked by several people, When are you going to write about your trip!? I will. But I need to figure out how.

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It’s now a month later, and I still haven’t written about Kilimanjaro. Why? I wasn’t sure. But then I was re-reading my book to look for a section that I knew would help someone, and – as usual on the rare occasion I pick up my book – I found myself reading further. The following passage sounded familiar, not because I wrote it, but because it applied to my recent trip (although written about the end of my swimming career):The competitor in me that gave me the will and the drive to make it to this point, also caused me to feel defeated when I came to recognize my limitations. I had never felt limited in my life and it was humbling. Even when I was told I could not walk, I knew I would. But after two years of trying to improve my (swimming) times, I was faced with limitations my body could not overcome. And I had to be okay with that.

The end of my swimming career at Notre Dame was really tough for me. Not physically, but emotionally. I felt defeated when I realized I would never get any faster; that I would never improve my times; and that I would never be the swimmer I was before the accident occurred. While hiking Kilimanjaro, the competitor in me that gave me the will and the drive to get as far as I did, felt defeated when I came to recognize my limitations. Just as I had 25 years ago, I was faced with limitations on the mountain that my body could not overcome.

So just as it took me a while to process the limitations I experienced towards the end of my swimming career, it has taken me a while to process the limitations I experienced while hiking Kilimanjaro. Returning to my blog is a start. Stay tuned! More to come…